Search a growing assortment of Common Core-aligned tasks, units and student work by keyword, grade level (preK through 12), subject area and Common Core Learning Standard. This site is provided by the New York City Department of Education. Search results provide a short description of packets including the length of units and mathematics concepts addressed. Units are very detailed and include descriptions, standards addressed, student work pages, rubrics, student work examples, support for ESL/ELL students, and support for special education students. Print each unit from the PDF link included.

In the Classroom

Bookmark and save this site for use throughout the year for Common Core units and lessons. Share with other teachers in your building and district as a resource for Common Core lessons. Explore the site during Common Core professional development days.

Something Fishy educates about water quality, fish, and the environment. Choose from the children's portion of the site or the section for teachers and parents. Children participate in a series of eight lessons beginning with "Water, Water, Everywhere" through "Will There Be Any Left For Me?" Lessons include short stories and slideshows. Teachers and Parents can download a teaching manual and work cards along with an overview and lesson plan for each activity.

In the Classroom

The children's activities are excellent for use on an interactive whiteboard or projector. View and discuss the lessons together as part of your environmental unit or lessons on the water cycle. Have students view lessons on classroom computers on their own then summarize learning using a talking avatar with a photo or other image (legally permitted to be reproduced). The avatars can be used to explain water quality topics found on the site. Use a site such as Blabberize (reviewed here).

Watch these five minute science content videos about a variety of topics such as Green Energy or Football Kinematics. Browse by category or content topic. Use the search box found at the top of the page. The videos are engaging and informative. Topics vary greatly. Some topics cross over into Social Studies as scientists excavate ancient sites. Be sure to check out videos about difficult topics such as Climate Change (To What Degree).

In the Classroom

Use the videos to tie content into students real lives. Share the videos on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Provide this link on a wiki, blog, or site for students to find interesting information and report to the class on what they have learned. Challenge students to create their own five minute videos about a topic that you are learning about in science (or another subject). Share the videos on a site such as TeacherTube reviewed here.

Use the HD Downloader to easily download videos and music from YouTube. Paste your YouTube URL to the space provided on HD Downloader. Then select whether to copy as a video or an MP3 music file (selecting the quality), convert to a RingTone, or scan the MP3 to a Mobile Phone. When selecting to download a video there are several choices of formats: 3GP medium and high quality, FLV low and medium quality, and MP4 high quality. The MP4 high quality seemed to download the fastest, and the resulting download is viewable in full screen mode. All the selections work on both PC and MAC computers. At the time of this review, HD Downloader seems to download best using Internet Explorer (I.E.) on a Windows computer, and Safari on a MAC computer. When using I.E. on the Windows computer, a box might appear that says: "the digital signature cannot be verified" and will ask if you want to run the application anyway. Click on RUN. Once you've downloaded the video, you can copy it to a USB stick, and it will also play on a MAC computer. Be aware: there are MANY advertisements at this site, so this may not be a site that you want students to explore independently.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Mark this tool in your favorites for easy access, and as a "work-around" when YouTube is blocked at your school. Use this tool at home to save YouTube videos on a stick and take them to school. Teachers should model ethical use of electronic resources (other people's work) for students. Be sure to give proper credit for videos and other files you save locally under Fair Use.

Use this virtual canvas to montage online images, create image-only comic strips, slideshows, and more. NO membership is required! Choose Create, then add images for your "canvas" presentation using image URLs. To add multiple images, use a semi-colon after each URL. All added images will appear according to the sequence in which you have added the URLs. At the time of this review, Infinite Canvas does not support uploading images directly. You can use any online image, so place your images on a web services such as Flickr, Photobucket, ImageShack or Imgur. Browse such services to fetch interesting Creative Commons licensed images. Note that there is no way to add text unless it is an online image. After you have entered the image URLs, click Save and enter your "Comic Name", "Comic Passcode." Author's name, and Save again. Remember your passcode, or you will not be able to save edits. You can prevent projects from showing in the public pages by unchecking the "Publish to Directory" box, but you will need to SAVE the url on your own so you can find it again. This might be a safer option for content created by classes or students. Note:There are many publicly created comic strips/presentations on the main page. Several are not classroom appropriate. Please preview any that you plan to share with students or direct them to the tool itself, bypassing the shared projects.

In the Classroom

Map your entire lesson, chapter, or unit visually on one canvas. Once you introduce the concept with this tool, you can go back to it often with your students to help them visualize as you move to different parts of the unit. It would provide a great review if you were doing this on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Or you could post this to your wiki, web page, or even give students the URL of the Infinite Canvas for them to review as needed. However, you do not have to stop there. Try having the students map a concept or chapter with this tool. In history class, create visual timelinesor photo montages of events relevant to the curriculum. Have students create an Infinite Canvas for different events, and then post the link of their product on a class blog or wiki. Add a peer review component and require students to comment on at least two other Infinite Canvases. Speech/language teachers, ESL/ELL teachers, or world language teachers could create "comics" to have students discuss orally as a way to practice vocabulary and language skills. Art classes can collect images to illustrate a design element or a period in Art History. Create a visual "name it and claim it" montage of paintings for students to identify the artist or time period.

MailChimp lets you create email newsletters, share them on social networks, integrate with services you already use, and track your results. MailChimp handles all of this with lists. You can subscribe, edit, and remove yourself from lists as you please. Send your newsletter immediately or schedule delivery for the future. Test the email using the popup window to send to your own email address. Create your own template or choose from one of the many pre-designed templates available on the site. Content is rendered for easy use on mobile devices for viewing and through the app for creating and sending content. The site offers a long list of free features for use if you have under 2,000 subscribers and you can send up to 12,000 emails a month - at no charge! Free features include templates, auto translate into other languages, group creation, Facebook and social media integration, and much more. Import recipient information from your online address book or an Excel spreadsheet. Choose to send your emails to your entire list, or a specific segment of your list. Your newsletters can include images and text, and can be personalized by merging "subscriber" information into the body of your message.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

This is a great resource for schools and classrooms to manage newsletters. Your class can generate a monthly newsletter or create newspapers from a period in time and share them with parents, school principals, and the school community. Share this site with the person responsible for creating and sharing content at your school. Send a nice end of the year message of thanks to parents with links for summer activities and even a year-end online slideshow. Send an informative beginning of the year newsletter with classroom information and introducing yourself to parents. Send out departmental information to parents through the group feature of MailChimp specifically to those involved. Use the merge feature to make emails personal. How much nicer would it be for parents to see news addressed to Dear Mr. & Mrs. Jones, as opposed to Dear Parent(s)? School counselors can share information about college and career fairs, important deadlines, and more using Mail Chimp.

Create beautiful online posters at Checkthis, a free, instant web publishing program. Add text, website links, pictures, videos, maps, sounds, tweets, web links, polls, and more. An optional account lets you save your poster creations, customize URLs for the products, and return to edit later. If you wish to simply share a non-editable version, click Share and choose "no edit." Choose to share by email to see and copy the URL. Here is a sample. Every poster you create has its own URL, customizable if you create an account. You can also share via Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. Develop your own "poster" in a few clicks. Check This offers a wide variety of uses for no cost. Be aware: There could be questionable posters and/or comments on the homepage or by clicking "explore." Please preview before sharing this site with students.

In the Classroom

Checkthis can be used for school, personal, or family use. No class blog? Use Checkthis to create a free instant blog without memberships. Use for students to create their own personal posters. In lower grades, create posters together featuring class rules, sight words, and more. Share the finished products ad links from your class web page for parents and students to access together from home to reinforce concepts. Projects, written work, posters, blog posts, etc... become "published" with the unique URL given when you simply push the Publish button. Keep student portfolios under a whole class account so you can easily review and update from any computer (even from home). Students can read your comments and reflect. Create a class poster/page about famous inventors, habitats, natural resources, authors, scientists, parts of speech, science experiments, role-plays, character sketches, or math riddles. Have students illustrate idioms or vocabulary and terms using posters (in English or a world language). Have students (or groups) make health, nutrition, of fitness posters. Add each student's URL on your class website to share all student work without space limitations. Enhance writing portfolios with sound, video, and website links. Keep guided notes in your own space so you won't lose them. Share your lesson plans, ideas, and suggestions in an easy to find place, your own account! Create pages for after school clubs to keep current information. Add a parent blog to encourage communication between your class families. Your room parent will appreciate his/her own web page. Have each student create study pages for any content area. The sky is the limit for what each page includes. Your gifted students will love being able to publish a quick blog or poster and receive comments from gifted students in other classes or schools. Set up a blog hop using Checkthis in collaboration with other teachers you find via #gtchat in Twitter.

Travel back in time via this video site. Slide the bar to any year from 1860 to the present. Choose a year and view a random video from that time. (Yes, we know there isn't video from 1860, but this features a YouTube video of the first sound ever recorded in 1860.) The information bar to the right of the video screen tells how many videos are available for that year and includes filters to include or exclude topics such as commercials, sports, movies, and music. Click the icon to move to a different video from the same year. Use the search bar at the top of each page to search for any topic to find videos available on the site. The one down side to the site is that videos are displayed randomly when choosing a year. It would be nice to have a complete list of all video titles available. Although the site uses Flash, there is a downloadable app available for viewing on mobile devices. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your school blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

History teachers will love using this site to give a perspective of time periods taught in class. Apply filters to limit the videos included. For example, turn off everything except current events if you are looking for news from a specific year. Share this site with students and have them explore videos available for a given time period. Use media to build a broader sense of what the time period was like. Ask student groups to watch enough that they can hypothesize a general description of what was important to people at the time, based on advertisements, news, and more. Have them keep a list of the things they observe and questions they would like to ask if they could talk to someone from that time period. Challenge students to create a newspaper article from their "era" using the Newspaper Clipping Generator. Share this site with students and challenge them to use a site such as TimeRime reviewed here to create an interactive timeline of historic events or people.

Pathbrite creates online portfolios. Follow the ten part template to create a portfolio that includes text, transcripts, videos, work samples, and more. Import items directly from many social networks such as YouTube, Vimeo, Khan Academy, and others. Share completed portfolios via url or through social networking links.

In the Classroom

Upload student work throughout the year and share with parents and/or students during conferences. Use this to show finished projects or to demonstrate changes in a project from start to finish. Upload examples of finished work to share with students before beginning a project to set expectations for completed products. Create a link on your class website to share projects and information. (Get parents permission before posting students' work.) Students can also take ownership of their own portfolios that show progress and products across several years. HIgh school students can build portfolios to share a part of career and college preparation.

Rutgers RIOT (Research Information Online Tutorial) is an excellent animated tutorial that explains the research process. Five modules are included, each explaining a different component of the research process. Topics include: Selecting a Topic, Finding Sources, Selecting Keywords, Identifying Citations, and Evaluating Sources. Tutorials are 4 to 9 minutes in length. Embedded into each video are interactive items such as multiple choice responses and viewing of materials discussed. View modules in order, or select the ones you prefer. Print certificates upon completion of each module if desired. Click on the summary link to view and print an overview of information offered on the videos.

In the Classroom

This is a wonderful resource for classroom use when completing any research projects. It was created for college level students, but could be used as low as middle school if the teacher supports it. View videos together as a class on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) as you discuss or review the research process. If individual laptops are available, challenge students to complete the tutorial on their own and then summarize the top 3 facts they learned by writing a blog. Have students create blogs using Throwww (reviewed here). This site allows you to create "quick and easy" blogs to be used one time only. There is no registration necessary! You may also want to include a link to the RIOT site on your classroom webpage or blog for your students to access at home.

CommonCurriculum is an online lesson planning resource that helps align lessons to Common Core resources. Copy and paste a current lesson plan into their weekly template. Search a standard to find standards that may align with the lesson. The more text provided, the more options for standards will be offered. Drag and drop items from one day to another. Print using the print option for paper lesson plans. Publish lesson plans to your blog or website with one click using links in the site. Send public sections in a daily email to addresses you enter.

In the Classroom

Use CommonCurriculum for all of your lesson planning. Copy and paste current lesson plans into the site to view standards that match your lessons. Share public areas such as homework with parents through the email option provided in the site. Use this site to align your lessons to the Common Core standards.

Edge Features:

Comments

Excellent planning tool. It helps organize my plans and share them with students. I can link to my files in Dropbox and then share those links with students -- no more uploading!
Also, I can do long range planning easily. When I reorder my units, my lessons are automatically shifted around on the calendar. It's magic.Scott, , Grades: 1 - 2

Find a great set of resources including videos about climate change, potential problems, and mitigation. The site is organized like a concept map into three distinct areas: Exploring Earth's Climate, Exploring What Might Happen, and Exploring Our Future Choices. Click on a subtopic to view the video. Videos include subtitles and have related questions and answers along the side of the page.

In the Classroom

Use as a great introduction into Climate Change and its effects. Use as a resource for students to obtain information as well as other sources to find bias, peer reviewed material, and general consensus. Be sure to place this link on your list of resources or on your site, wiki, or blog for ease of use. Create a debate about the science and differing viewpoints to identify facts from opinion. Create a public service announcement to address climate change and simple steps everyone can take to make a difference locally.

Unearth serious biology animations at Harvard's outreach program resource site. The interactive animations are clear enough to be understood by even the biology novice. Biodiversity, microbiology, evolution, and cancer are some of the topics that are explained here. Simply click on the topic you are interested in learning about. Topics are on the right side of the screen. The animations are engaging and help demystify biology with their straightforward nature.

In the Classroom

Use these animations in your biology or life science classes to help further explain any of the concepts that they cover. Share them with the class on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students in their seats direct a student at the interactive whiteboard through the animation. If this type of sharing does not work for you, disperse a link to an animation through your website or wiki. Have students work through the animation individually and answer a teacher-created question set as they do.

The Math Dictionary is a glossary of important terms that elementary and middle school students need to know for success in their mathematics and science classes. The dictionary includes diagrams when appropriate. Click on any letter to see a list of terms. Choose the term to find the definition. Read the short definition along with the Hawaiian translation. Some items include examples or diagrams along with links to further information.

In the Classroom

Bookmark this site for use when looking up math terms. Have some fun with the Hawaiian translations provided. Give students the Hawaiian word and see if they can find the word and definition it goes with! Share this site through your classroom newsletter, website, or blog for students to use at home. Challenge students to create a talking avatar using a photo or other image (legally permitted to be reproduced). The avatars can be used to explain a term defined on the site. Use a site such as Blabberize (reviewed here). Post these avatars on your classroom website to have your own talking math dictionary!

Scrumy is an easy to use project management or planning tool. Create a project by adding the name you want to the Scrumy URL. Or have Scrumy name your project for you by clicking on the "New Free Project" button. Once your page opens, a prompt guides you to click on "Create a Story." A story is really a grouping of tasks. It's a category or goal that you can split into multiple tasks. Prompts guide you through setting up the rest of your tasks. You can assign tasks to different people. The color coding allows you to quickly see who is doing what. There are To Do, In Progress, Verify, and Done columns to work with. Once you've learned the steps, you can hide the tutorial. If you need assistance, there is lots of help on their About page. If you don't see what you need there, their email support is almost instantaneous!This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Are you responsible for multiple tasks at school over and above teaching? This program will help you stay organized. Teach project planning and sequencing tasks. Have students use this for planning "how-to" demonstration speeches, or students with IEPs can work toward goals with intermediate steps listed on Scrumy. Your gifted-but-disorganized students would benefit from trying this tool. You might even want to model and use it with an entire class during major projects to teach time management. When your students are working in small groups on research projects, presentations, and even literature circles, this would be a great program for them to stay organized. All you have to do is share the URL for others to see, move, create, and change tasks.

Search and find standards based resources in every subject and grade levels. Many are aligned to Florida standards, some also to Common Core. Recently added resources appear on the home page. In addition, there are several search options available. Browse by subject area then narrow choices using drop boxes for grade level, and instructional components. Also choose from a keyword search to find specific topics and phrases. Choose all resources to view the list of over 1800 resources available. Short explanations include basic information; click on the link to view a full description.

Explore the Life Lab and find why we age, characteristics of each stage of development, the science of aging, the anatomy (and images) of the brain, and how memories are made. Although this site is slightly text-heavy, there is a lot of great information that is well organized and easy to follow.

In the Classroom

In your science or health classroom, look at the functions of a system and how it works together. Use as a reference source or use as an example to adapt to your unit of study. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Or have cooperative learning groups investigate specific sections/topics and create a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here.

Candy Experiments offers several great experiments to explore concepts such as sink/float, density, and color separation. Everyone loves a science experiment, especially if it involves food! Choose an experiment to find a list of materials, activity procedures, and a short explanation of the science. Some experiments also include a YouTube video demonstrating the experiment. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube. Be sure to check out the words of caution at the bottom of the list of experiments before attemping to do them.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Use this collection for some fun science experiments for the classroom. Can't use food in your school? Perform the experiment at home and videotape or give students the directions to perform at home (with parental help). Share the videos on a site such as TeacherTube reviewed here. View videos of the experiments on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) and have students predict results before watching the ending. Have students create their own comics to explain one of the activities using comic-creation tools reviewed here. Some explanations are fairly simple. Challenge students to explain concepts more fully with "talking pictures" using Fotobabble reviewed here. Extend the study by having student research the chemistry of other foods.

View this amazing set of resources to explore the world's oceans in a 3D virtual environment. Watch full episodes, view descriptions, or explore the many links. Swim with killer whales or float along and watch sea turtles and other organisms that swim by. Complete missions such as exploring some of the deepest places in the oceans. Use the "Time Machine" to view the history of the ocean and its inhabitants.This site includes advertising.

In the Classroom

Share full episodes or explore the other links on the site. Provide time for students to explore the different items in this site. Students can work as groups to identify information to share with the rest of the class. Create a webquest about Ocean Life using this resource. Use this site on a whiteboard or projector to discuss Ocean Life with the class. Place this link on a classroom computer or list on your blog or class website for easy access. The underseas experiences would also be a great way for students to learn how to "observe" as scientists and record their observations, even in lower elementary grades.

Remove all the clutter and "stuff" from YouTube, Vimeo, and Viddler videos. Check out the "Quick Tutorial" link to learn more! Drag the button on this page to your bookmark bar. When you choose a video, click the bookmark button. A new page opens that shows the video without all the comments and advertisements. Send the URL of this page to friend, families, or for access for your students.

In the Classroom

Share "distraction-free" videos on your interactive whiteboard (or projector). Share the URL for the clearer video on your class website or in assignments. Removing the comments and advertisements can make for a much better viewing experience. This is especially true of your ADD, autistic, unfocused gifted, or other special needs students. Less distraction = better learning experience for all.